Cause and Effect in Holes

An important part of any story are the cause and effect relationships that drive the plot. Students can enhance prediction and problem-solving, by demonstrating their understanding of chain reactions in the novel. Creating a storyboard that shows the cause and effect in events will increase their understanding of these relationships.

For this activity, create a storyboard template with the "causes" of events already filled in, and ask students to depict the "effect". Alternatively, have students complete both cause and effect for a given event or series of events. When you click "Use This Assignment", both the example above and a blank template will copy into your account for you to customize as desired!

Example Events:

• Stanley is hit by a pair of shoes
• Stanley is arrested
• Stanley finds Kissing Kate’s lipstick container
• Stanley and Zero climb the mountain
• Stanley and Zero eat the onions

Student Instructions

Create a storyboard that shows cause and effect relationships in Holes. Each cause and effect pair will be shown in the same row.

1. On the left side of the T-Chart, illustrate events that show cause (why).
2. On the right side of the T-Chart, illustrate events that show effect of each cause (direct results).
3. Write a description below each cause.
4. In the description under each effect, show how the cause and effect are related.